Approximately 1.5 million people reside in Philadelphia, making this the sixth largest city in America. Home to cheese steaks and more pizza parlors than found in any other of the 50 largest U.S. cities, Philly has alternately earned the dubious distinctions of "Fattest American City" (Men's Fitness Magazine,October 26, 2005) and "Most Depressed American City" (Men's Health, March 9, 2005). These (perhaps undeserved) monikers were assigned by popular men's magazines, but unhealthy impressions of Philadelphians are bolstered by data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation. The table below summarizes key indicators that point to Philadelphia as a locus of ill health.
Health indicator comparisons between US and Philadelphia populations.
The table above indicates that the health of Philadelphians—and the healthfulness of the city itself—demands attention. What the table obscures, however, is a wide degree of variation in health states across the city's 136 square miles and among the city's residents. For example, while the city as a whole compares unfavorably to the US (and to other urban areas) in infant mortality, the rates within Philadelphia range from lows of 0-8 deaths per 1,000 live births in areas of Center City, South Philadelphia, and Northeast Philadelphia to highs exceeding 20 deaths per 1,000 live births in sections of West, Southwest and North Philadelphia. These stark differences are driven in part by well-documented, persistent racial disparities in infant mortality: in Philadelphia, the infant mortality rate is 2.5 times higher in blacks than in whites. However, attributing this documented disparity to race alone may deflect attention from root causes of infant mortality that exist in Philadelphia's physical and social environments.
Examining potential physical and social environmental causes of ill health and health disparities—for infant mortality and a range of other health concerns—may ultimately engender 1) increased public and research attention to health threats and advantages and 2) strategies to improve population health and to close racial and geographical health divides.
